Orlando Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A frequent cause of pedestrian accidents on the highway is after a car breaks down or a car accident causes accident victims to leave their vehicles. During such times, most people forgot about their own safety since they are preoccupied. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration more than 4,900 pedestrians are killed on our Highways each year.

Pedestrians alongside highways are usually invisible at night unless they are wearing something reflective. Getting out of a car, changing a tire, or even just standing on the shoulder beside a highway is extremely hazardous at night time. Oncoming autos and trucks can see the reflective lights on the parked vehicle, but cannot see the people standing or working beside the autos.

In response to this hazard companies have created safety apparel to keep in one’s car that can be used in these circumstances. One such item is called the VizVest to protect drivers and passengers when out on the highway. The benefit of such apparel is that when walking along the flow of traffic it allows people to be detected from much farther distances, especially at night, dawn or dusk. The increased distances translate to increased time for drivers to recognize a person, decide to respond and then make appropriate maneuvers to avoid collisions.

Posted by Tony Caggiano | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents

Bookmark:

People with sleep apnea, an often undiagnosed breathing disorder, are three to five times more likely to be in a severe car crash involving injury, according to researchers in British Columbia. As Orlando car accident lawyers, we must always determine if another driver’s medical condition may have contributed to a car accident. This interesting study found that sufferers of sleep apnea, a condition where the airway collapses during sleep, were at double the risk of being in a car accident.

Importantly, the study also found that a lot of sleepiness-related crashes tend to be more severe. Typically, these car accidents involve a driver asleep at the wheel who hits a tree or crosses the median and hits another car head-on. Such car accidents often prove deadly.

Even if a driver does not fall asleep at the wheel, it has been shown that patients with sleep apnea or sleep deprivation have reduced motor function. It affects coordination, dis-tractability or vigilance. While car accidents will occur, they are more likely when a driver is operating his car at less than full capacity. In addition to alcohol, drugs or prescription medications, sleep apnea is a serious contributing factor in a number of car accidents. Sadly, it is believed that sleep apnea is a condition that is often undiagnosed or ignored.

Posted by Tony Caggiano | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents

Bookmark:

Traveling on I-4 between Orlando and Tampa weather conditions sometimes permit dense fog to roll in so quickly that drivers can be at great risk for car accidents. Tragically, this became all too evident this past week when fog contributed to a series of crashes that killed four people and injured 38 others in central Florida. According to investigators trying to unravel what happened, extreme fog contributed to a 70-car pileup.

While highway patrol and state transportation officials blamed motorists for not slowing down as they entered the thick veil of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire that got out of control, this condition developed very quickly. In fact, it would appear that the road should have been closed due to such conditions. Troopers have the authority to close a road when they think public safety is in jeopardy. They can set up flares and block the road with their cars if they think the roadway is too treacherous for travel. The highway patrol then calls the Transportation Department to erect signs.

While procedurally, nothing may have been done wrong, these hazardous conditions appear to have completely overwhelmed and surprised the drivers. The series of crashes halted traffic in both directions for a 14-mile stretch of interstate for nearly 36 hours as workers removed the wreckage and then repaved a 650-foot portion of the roadway ruined by the fires that burned after the crashes.

Posted by Tony Caggiano | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents

Bookmark: